A black man, Colin Ferguson, boarded a Long Island commuter train that carried nearly all white passengers and began shooting with a pistol at close range. Ferguson hoped to start a race war. The incident, known as the Long Island Railroad Massacre resulted in six people being killed and 19 injured.

Ferguson was consumed with hatred against white people, who he blamed for everything. He is on record making many racist statements and alligations against whites. However, many claims by Ferguson were investigated and were proven to have never occurred.

Ferguson didn't want to embarrass New York City's black mayor, David Dinkins, so he selected a commuter train headed to Nassau County. Once the train entered Nassau, Ferguson began shooting, selecting specific white people to gun down and sparing others. The reasons for his selection of who to shoot and who not was never made clear.

As he stopped to reload his gun for the third time he was overpowered by three passengers and held down until the police arrived.

After a bizarre trial in which Ferguson represented himself, he was found guilty and sentenced to 315 years in prison.